Bicycles ready to roll in Bay Village as Bike to School Challenge kicks off (photo gallery)

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio -- It's the season when bicycles sprout in almost as much profusion as spring flowers in Bay Village.

The annual Bike to School Challenge, which involves hundreds of Bay students, begins Monday. And, while biking already is a habit for many -- especially at Bay Middle School -- the number of two-wheelers on city streets and sidewalks always climbs during the challenge.

The whole focus of the program, sponsored by Century Cycles, is on promoting healthy habits and protecting the environment in the process. Bay also is recruiting local cyclists to sign up for the National Bike Challenge, in which the city led the region last year with 27 riders who recorded a total of 27,685 miles over five months.

Organizers say that during last year's Bike to School Challenge, Bay students biked 28,257 miles, prevented 31,083 pounds of carbon dioxide from being emitted from vehicles, saved $4,964.78 that would have been spent on gas and burned 480,369 calories bicycling to school for three weeks.

The city's annual bike fair, offering free safety inspections, was held at Bay Middle School on Thursday so that young riders could be assured their bicycles were ready to roll.

Lawrence Kuh, a middle school teacher who helps coordinate the Bike to School Challenge, said he expects that more than 500 kids from the middle school, which has roughly 800 students, will ride during the challenge.

He said participation has grown every year and organizers have been pleased to see that "interest doesn't die off after the challenge. They're still riding in the summer."

The challenge started in 2008 after Century Cycles owner Scott Cowan was inspired by a driving boycott that Bay High students staged. A former Bay High student himself, he worked with Jason Martin, who was then assistant principal of the high school, to create the first challenge. It has since expanded to include middle- and elementary-school students.

"If you start them early enough, it becomes a lifelong habit," said Eryn Sutterlin, a high school teacher who helps coordinate the challenge. The advisor to the high school's environmental club, Project Earth, she said that between 100 and 200 Bay High students usually participate.

Kuh said that for every four days that students ride, they're eligible for a raffle ticket to win a bike provided by Century Cycles and Raleigh Bicycles. There are three bikes available for middle school winners, and one each at the high school and Westerly Elementary School. Participants can also earn raffle tickets by wearing helmets during the challenge.

John Dacek, who brought his sons -- Matthew, 11, and Nathan, 9 -- to the bike fair for the first time on Thursday said he thought it was a great idea to promote good values in children.

Debra Bird, who brought her 11-year-old daughter Olivia and 9-year-old son Frank, is somewhat of a challenge veteran herself. Last year, she rode 16 miles a day accompanying Olivia -- then a Westerly student -- the four miles to school and back, and then riding to pick her up at Westerly at the end of the day and head home.

The Bay Middle School challenge, which begins Monday, continues through May 23. The challenge for Westerly and Bay High School students will be May 19 through 23. Since the Bay Bike to School Challenge began in 2008, students have logged a total of 157,733 miles organizers said.

Cycling enthusiasts are also trying to sign up Bay riders for the National Bike Challenge, which began Thursday and continues until Sept. 30. Pat McGannon, who is leading the effort to sign up riders through the Village Bicycle Cooperative, said the Bay Village Green Team and Bay Skate & Bike Foundation are helping get the word out.

He said that Bay Middle School students will be asked to sign up this year for the first time so that their miles will be counted.

To participate, a rider signs up for a free account and then logs his or her bicycling miles. Local communities, as well as those around the country, compete for bragging rights. McGannon said the totals are used in advocacy campaigns to promote safe biking measures and to demonstrate the number of cyclists out there.

"The miles add up pretty fast," said McGannon, who estimates that he logged about 300 miles a month during last year's challenge. "I replaced as many vehicle trips as I could by biking downtown."

He's been a serious cyclist since 2007, after the rehab for his torn Achilles tendon included riding a stationary bike. McGannon said he figured that if he was going to ride, it might as well be outside so he could enjoy it and stay fit.

He was part of the group that recently worked with city officials to overhaul the city's bike ordinances. Although a formal education campaign will be rolled out later this month, McGannon said bike-riders should remember that they must obey all vehicular traffic laws and ride with traffic rather than against it. In addition, the new laws require that motorists passing bicycles allow a minimum of three feet, or six feet if driving a commercial vehicle.

Anyone having trouble signing up for the National Bike Challenge is asked to email McGannon at patrick@villagebicycle.org.